Here’s how to avoid the post-holiday sales slump and maintain your momentum

Well, the holidays are over. Your sales likely saw a spike in sales and you want to keep that going as much as you can.

That’s what this post is all about. :)

Now, of course you can expect some drop in sales after Christmas. But you’ve already created momentum. You’ve shown Amazon, Etsy, and wherever else you sell that you’re able to fulfill your obligations (by shipping out items on time), and those platforms will reward you for that.

Here’s some encouraging news: In 2016 I noticed that 73.8% of my sales were made in November and December. In 2017, only 48.54% of sales were from that time period, even though I made more revenue throughout the year.

That showed me there’s still lots of opportunity, and that momentum counts.

You should be able to continue to see good sales going into the coming months…even if they may not be Christmas-level high.

And to help you optimize your post-holiday sales rates, I’ve compiled a list of ways to keep your sales going strong which you can view in detail below.

Let’s dive in!

Start making designs for the next major holiday right away

While this may vary across cultures, the next major holiday that retail stores hype in the U.S. is Valentine’s Day.

So start putting up designs that would work well for Valentine’s (and any other new designs you have, really — the more designs you create, the better).

There’s a lot of room for creativity with Valentine’s Day designs. You could create a whole bunch with just hearts, varying in number, color, and shape. Or, you could create designs that say “World’s best girlfriend/boyfriend/partner/husband/wife,” for instance.

Run a search on Google images for “Valentine’s Day designs” and see what inspiration you get!

Here are some examples:

Ideally, though, you want to create designs for Valentine’s Day that you can sell year-round.

Several of the above designs work only for Valentine’s. And while holiday-specific designs are still good to have, in order to optimize the “shelf-life” of your products, you want the bulk of your designs to be relevant any time of year… things that people would also want to gift for birthdays, anniversaries, et cetera.

From the batch of design examples above, two designs, in particular, I think would be great for Valentine’s Day along with the rest of the year are “You’re my favorite pain in the ass” and “You make my heart have premature ventricular contractions.”

So try to come up with more designs like that.

Put your bestselling designs on other products

If a particular design sold really well on a mug during the holiday season, try putting the same design on a shot glass, pillowcase, or tumbler…or on anything else you sell.

Odds are, the design will continue to sell well on your other products.

Offer a “treat yourself” type discount

If you have a list, send out some kind of special offer or deal and market it as a way for your customers to treat themselves in the new year. For example, you could create a TREATYOURSELF coupon code to give out.

Similarly, you could host a winter clearance sale, especially for those items that didn’t sell as well as others during the holiday season for or those products that feature seasonal designs.

Most people aren’t going to rush to buy Christmas merchandise after Christmas has passed. But if the price is right, customers may feel compelled to act on a great offer so they can stock up for next year.

Run a sale on Etsy

I know that not everyone has a list, though. Email marketing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and that’s understandable. So if you don’t have a list, Etsy on Sale is a great way to put your discounted offers in front of an audience.

As a shop owner, you get five free credits to start. And with those credits you can schedule sales, edit tags, and auto-renew your listings using Etsy on Sale’s exclusive tools.

Market to the “New Year” attitude

The New Year is a time for resolutions. People are all about fresh starts and accomplishing their goals. And you can incorporate this type of attitude into your marketing messages and strategies.

Similarly, you can create products and designs that cater to typical New Year resolutions — for example, getting in better shape or cutting down on sweets, becoming more organized, spending more time with friends and family, or traveling more.

All of these resolutions could be turned into designs. I just ran a Google image search for an “exercise more” mug and here are the results I got:

Some of the ideas are jokes about exercising being tough and not super fun, but others offer some pretty great inspiration for other unique designs.

You could also survey your list, if you have one, to see what kinds of resolutions your followers are making and then cater specifically to those ideas.

Thank holiday shoppers with customer loyalty discounts

You want to keep your customers coming back for more, as the best type of customer is a repeat customer because repeat customers already know you, trust you, and want to do business with you.

So as a way to say “thank you” for their business, offer special discounts to anyone who’s purchased from you more than once. You could create THANKYOU or THANKS4URBIZ coupon codes, for example.

Create accessory or complementary products to upsell customers

This suggestion also ties into the value of repeat customers because you can upsell repeat customers or suggest additional products that complement their recent purchases: “If you bought this, then you’ll love THIS, too!”

For instance, say a customer buys a mug from you. You could then contact that customer about a matching pair of coasters (if you’re in LHS) that would go perfectly with her new mug.

Or, say a customer purchases a t-shirt. Maybe you have matching leggings you think he or she would also like. Get in touch and let that customer know!

Provide customers with return options other than a refund

After the holidays, you’re bound to get some refund requests. But when that happens, try offering an alternative solution to customers first.

For example, if a customer wants to return a $20 item, see if they’d like a $25 credit to your store instead. And anytime something arrives broken, see if customers would be okay with having a replacement item sent asap in lieu of a refund.

What do you think about these suggestions for avoiding the post-holiday sales slump? Do you have any other ideas? Leave a comment below and let me know!